TOKYO (Reuters) – Panasonic Corp will buy US software company Blue Yonder for 700 billion yen ($ 6.45 billion), Nikkei reported on Monday, saying it was the Japanese electronics company’s biggest acquisition since 2011.
While Panasonic last year bought a 20% stake in Blue Yonder for 86 billion yen, it is now in the final stages of acquiring the remaining shareholders, including Blackstone Group Inc., Nikkei said, citing unnamed sources.
The move comes as the Japanese company aims to expand hardware that combines software, sensors and other devices to help companies improve operational efficiency, Nikkei said.
Panasonic could not be reached for comment.
One deal would be Panasonic’s largest, as it spent 800 billion yen to make subsidiaries wholly owned by Sanyo Electric and Panasonic Electric Works in 2011, according to the report.
Although the acquisition is likely to come from Panasonic’s own funds, loans or other financing for the acquisition may be considered, Nikkei said.
($ 1 = 108,4900 yen)
Reporting by Takashi Umekawa; Edmund Blair’s montage, Louise Heavens’s montage